Travel Journal: The Kids of Comuna Trece
One of my favorite memories from Colombia was playing with the neighborhood kids in Comuna Trece - a slum in Medellin. What was once one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country is now an area frequented by tourists. Over the past decade the government has worked hard to recover from years of violence and clean up the slums. In 2011 they built an outdoor escalator system to help the residents of this area climb up and down the steep hillside more easily. After finishing the
of Medellin (which I highly recommend!), my friends Kent, Aaron, my boyfriend James and I hopped on the metro to Comuna Trece.
Looking Down at the Escalators
Colorful Graffiti
View from the Top
We rode the chain of 6 escalators to the top, checked out the colorful graffiti, and took in the view of Medellin. After walking around a bit we stumbled upon an outdoor slide where two little boys were playing. Immediately, my friend Kent ran to the top and went down the slide with the boys. They thought we were crazy, but after a few rides they were begging us to slide down with them. A group of little girls joined us and we all took turns sliding down together.
Playing on the Slide
After snapping a few pictures I began recording the rides on my iPhone in slow motion. I showed it to the kids and they thought it was the most amazing thing ever. They begged me to record them and then laughed hysterically at themselves. Anytime we spoke in English, one of the boys, Armando, would ask me to translate everything we said.. he didn’t like to feel left out. He told us about how he wanted to be an opera singer someday, and he and the guys bonded over video games. We stayed and played with these kids for hours until they were called home. I recorded so many slow mo videos my phone ran out of storage. It was so much fun being silly and feeling young on something as simple as a slide.